Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, has publicly apologized for reposting a social media message that criticized the police response during the arrest of a suspect in the Golders Green attack. The post, originally from another user, accused officers of "repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser."
In a statement released on Friday, Polanski expressed regret for his actions, saying he "shared a tweet in haste" and should not have commented on the police response via social media. The apology came after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the repost as "disgraceful" during a BBC interview.
Sir Keir, in an interview for BBC Radio 4's Today program, defended the officers' actions. He noted that he had met the officers involved and suggested that the circumstances justified their response. "There's a guy on the ground, he's got a rucksack on. And I don't know what was going through the mind of those officers, but if I was there, I'd be thinking, he's going to detonate something. He's going to blow me up and everybody around here," the prime minister said.
Polanski responded to the Prime Minister's criticism on X (formerly Twitter), writing: "Today the prime minister uses his office to attack the only Jewish party leader to score political points."
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, had also criticized Polanski's repost, accusing the Green leader of amplifying "inaccurate and misinformed commentary" in a letter published by the force.
In his statement, Polanski invited Sir Mark to meet to discuss the police response and wider issues. He acknowledged that "everyone in leadership has a responsibility for lowering the temperature at a time of such tension" and accepted that social media was not the appropriate channel for such discussions.
Sir Mark defended his decision to publicly criticize the politician, stating it was legitimate for him to defend his officers from "somebody eminent." He added, "If someone wants to step onto my responsibilities of operational policing, I will deal with that assertively."
The Metropolitan Police has released body-worn camera footage showing officers repeatedly shouting for the suspect to "get down on the ground" before using a Taser and then "drop the knife." The video came amid social media clips depicting the arrest, where officers can be seen kicking the man in the head multiple times during a struggle to disarm him.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct confirmed it received a mandatory referral from the Met regarding injuries sustained by the arrested man.
Polanski, a member of the London Assembly and leader of the Green Party of England and Wales since last September, faced additional criticism from within his own party. Anthony Slaughter, who leads the Greens in Wales, called the repost "inappropriate." Deputy leader Rachel Millward praised the officers as "brave" and described the incident as "beyond terrifying."
Multiple senior Green figures expressed concern about Polanski's actions, with one source accusing him of fueling "culture wars" and questioning whether such an approach would widen the party's support.
The Liberal Democrats criticized Polanski's apology as a "non-apology" and urged him to disown the reposted comments "in unambiguous terms."
The Metropolitan Police stated that it had received Polanski's letter and would meet with him after next week's elections.
Meanwhile, Essa Suleiman, 45, has been charged with attempting to murder Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76, in Golders Green. He is also accused of attempting to murder Ishmail Hussein in a knife attack at Hussein's flat in Southwark earlier that day. Suleiman faced a knife possession charge and appeared in court without entering pleas. His case has been sent to the Old Bailey, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 15. He remains in custody.